H1N1 Pandemic Claims 76 Children's Lives, CDC Says

Since the start of the H1N1 pandemic in April, the novel influenza strain has claimed 76 children's lives -- with 19 more deaths reported to the CDC in the past week, an agency official said.

That appears to be higher than the rate normally attributed to the seasonal flu, according to Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the agency's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Schuchat told reporters that in the past three flu seasons, the number of pediatric deaths ranged from 46 to 88.

"We've already had 76 children dying from the 2009 H1N1 virus and it's only the beginning of October," she said, noting that the current outbreak -- the second wave of the pandemic -- is likely to last for several more months.

"It's pretty certain this flu will be with us going forward," she said.

She said flu activity -- almost all of it involving the pandemic H1N1 strain -- is rising in the U.S., with 37 states reporting widespread flu activity this week, up from 27 last week.

An apparent easing of the outbreak last week was probably a blip, she said, because the proportion of doctor visits for influenza-like illness attributed to the H1N1 strain is up to 5.1% this week -- higher than it was two weeks ago.

As of Oct. 8, Schuchat said, the agency had 6.8 million doses of H1N1 vaccine available for order -- most of it the live attenuated nasal spray. The agency had orders for a total of 3.7 million doses from every state and the District of Columbia, she said.

Some injectable vaccine will be available next week, Schuchat added.

While distribution of the H1N1 vaccine is going as planned, Schuchat said, a "few wrinkles" have meant that some people have so far been unable to get the seasonal vaccine, which targets two strains of influenza A and one of influenza B.

But 77 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine have been distributed, "more than we ever have had by this time of the year," she said. And more are on the way.

Indeed, early data from an 800-volunteer clinical trial appears to show that it's possible to get both shots at the same time -- one in each arm -- without any interference, according to Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Results from the first 50 volunteers shows that "the vaccines when given simultaneously do not impair the immune response to either of those," he said.

Fauci added that more mature results from dose-finding trials confirm that a single dose of the H1N1 vaccine will be enough for healthy adults.

The first results were based on immune responses eight to 10 days after the first 15-microgram shot and those "looked good," Fauci said. Results after 21 days confirmed those findings.

Many volunteers have now had a second dose, and results eight to 10 days after that shot are not substantially different from those seen 21 days after the first dose, Fauci said.